A ‘palette’ of artists colors the peninsula
artists.
“You can be the most tal-
ented person in the world, but if
no one knows it you are going
to die poor,” she said.
Arts group plans
two-day studio tour
BY PATRICK WEBB
Patrick Webb
A sharp blade is essential to cut the flattened
clay before it is shaped into the clam shells.
Continued from Page 6
‘Fun’
Sherry Bosch of Seaview frequents Bay
Avenue Gallery, eager to be part of artistic
community in the space.
“I think it’s just a drive people have,” she
said. She explored her creativity first by tole
painting, a traditional western European craft
of decorated household items. “A ‘gateway
drug,’” Raymond interjected, first to giggles
from all around the room that became know-
ing nods.
Bosch has always sought creative outlets
and has taken classes to broaden her skills.
She prefers acrylic paints because they dry
faster and are not quite as messy as oils.
“I think it’s ‘an addiction,’ because it’s
not for the money, that’s for sure,” she teased
when asked to explain her drive. “It’s ego. I
make enough to pay for my materials. I could
sit around and eat bon-bons. Painting is more
fun!”
Her varied pieces in the Bay Avenue Gal-
lery include painted beach scenes, decorated
coasters and tiles and ocean-themed art drawn
on synthetic Yupo paper using alcohol ink.
One is titled “Watching My Pet Octopus.”
She learned to draw with alcohol ink on
the peninsula. “I took a class at the library
and I was hooked on it,” she said.
‘Energy’
Raymond will be taking part in the Pen-
insula Arts Association fall open studio tour
this weekend, displaying her own art, but
promoting others with equal vigor. Some 50
artists’ pieces are on display at her gallery at
1406 Bay Ave., including some expressionist
acrylic landscape scenes painted by her for-
mer business partner, Bette Lu Krause, who
is a co-chair of the tour.
Both women delight in the proliferation
of artists on the Long Beach Peninsula. Ray-
mond says the scenic, less populated and slow-
er-paced area lures writers and chefs seeking a
contrasting vibe from Portland or other cities.
“There is a different energy than there is
in the city,” she said. “Some artists need to be
away from the city and tone it down so they
can be who they are meant to be.”
‘Dedicated’
Bette Lu Krause is eager
for people to sample a var-
ied palette on the Long Beach
Peninsula.
She and Nancy Elwood,
co-chairs of the Peninsula Arts
Association fall open studio
tour, are eager for visitors and
residents to visit artists’ work-
shops scattered from Ilwaco,
Washington, to the tip of the
peninsula in Surfside.
The event will take place
after Thanksgiving, on Friday
and Saturday, from 10 a.m. to
4 p.m. Fifteen locations are
featured in Surfside, Ocean
Park, Long Beach, Seaview and
Ilwaco.
‘Uplifting’ for artists
Krause, Elwood and their
creative neighbors will display
their work on the tour. Krause
creates expressionist nature
paintings, mostly acrylics on
canvas or boards; Nancy and
Wes Elwood offer upcycled art,
horseshoe and fairy gardens, as
well as photography.
As the tour approaches, art-
ists who usually work in private
have a deadline to tidy their stu-
dios for visitors.
“I don’t want people in my
studio when I am working
because it affects your concen-
tration,” laughed Krause. “But
the tour is really a special thing
for the artist — to have these
times to communicate with vis-
itors and have them express
how they feel about their art
and why they like it. It is really
uplifting as an artist.”
Art has always flourished on
the scenic Long Beach Penin-
sula with painters eager to cap-
ture the colors of the beach,
dunes and ocean. In recent
years, more carvers and metal
artists have moved to Long
Beach to display and sell their
creations.
The Peninsula Arts Asso-
Patrick Webb
‘Into The Woods,’ by Bette Lu Krause, is on display at the Bay Avenue
Gallery in Ocean Park.
If you go
Peninsula Arts Association
Fall annual studio tour
Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
15 locations:
Ilwaco: Luisa Mack
Seaview: Catherine Clark, Mary Halvorson and Karen Brownlee
Long Beach: Jim Unwin, Bold Gallery, Roy and Sue Rosselli, Jo-
Anne Webster, Dierdre Duewel and Betty Haynes
More ahead
Ocean Park: Bette Lu Krause, Carol Crouch, Gloria Martin, Bay
Avenue Gallery, Sue Raymond, Wiegardt Studio Gallery, Nancy
and Wes Elwood; Surfside, Harmony Soapworks, Don Perry, Carol
Hughes, Helen Marston and Diane Mangels.
More information: beachartist.org
ciation began as an informal
gathering of local artists in the
1970s, but it wasn’t until 1996
that a group incorporated as a
nonprofit. Two art shows in that
first year featured 50 artists.
Krause operated the Bay
Avenue Gallery in Ocean Park
some years ago with part-
ner Sue Raymond, who later
The group has hosted spring
and fall art shows and open
studio tours prior to COVID-
19. They also have funded a
$1,000 arts education schol-
arship to encourage talented
area students, and have pro-
vided supplies to Ocean Beach
and Naselle schools. Chalk
art activities at summer festi-
vals, plus ornaments for Santa’s
workshop in Ocean Park and
matting art at Ocean Park Ele-
mentary School has earned the
group applause.
This summer’s studio tour
attracted considerable visi-
tors as events begin resuming.
The 15 venues include several
places where multiple artists’
work will be displayed.
Krause said the upcoming
event is deliberately scheduled
Thanksgiving weekend to target
people who live elsewhere but
stay in their second homes with
family for the holidays.
“We have a dedicated group
of visitors who have been com-
ing for 14 years,” she said.
“There are people who come
every year. It’s usually rain-
ing, but it is a great way to go
to places you have never been
and go around with all with the
family.”
bought her out. She noted that
Bay Avenue features 50 artists;
Bold gallery in Long Beach has
about 40 and SkyWater Ven-
tures in Ilwaco is well stocked.
“There are a lot of artists
here,” Krause said.
Raymond promotes art year-
round, but savors the studio
tours to raise the profile of area
The Rotary Club of SW
Pacific County Peninsula and
Wellspring Family Services/
Willapa Behavioral Health
have chipped in cash to sup-
port activities. The group also
received a $1,500 gift from the
U.S. Department of Education
through the pandemic CARES
Act, which funds a nationwide
educational emergency relief
fund.
The group also wants peo-
ple to put April 1 on their cal-
endars for spring art shows in
Long Beach.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2021 // 7